command as view of the sea to the east, and to the west, of a fertile country, bounded by the Grampian Hills, and to the south, a view of the opening of the Firths of Tay and Forth. The Abbey was enclosed by a strong and lofty wall, which surrounded a considerable track. There are several lofty towers still standing. The magnificent church is on the north side of the square, built in the form of a cross; and on the other side, are three rows of false arches, which have a fine effect; and above them are high windows, and a semicircular one. length of the whole church is about 225 feet; and the breadth of the body and side aisles, from wall to wall, 67 feet; the length of the transept 165, and the breadth 27 feet.

The

On the south side, adjoining to the church, are the ruins of the chapter-house. The lower part is vaulted, and there is a spacious room well lighted with Gothic windows. At the north-west corner of the monastery, stand the walls of the regality prison, of great strength and thickness, within which are two vaults, and over them two light apartments. The convent elected a layman to act as their judge in crimi

nal matters.

The Barons of the Exchequer have lately strengthened these ruins, with a view to preserve them, and have restored a part which had fallen down. Dr. Johnson was so impressed with veneration at the sight of these sublime remains, that he has stated, in his account of his Journey to the Western Isles, that he considered the time and expense of his journey well rewarded by the view of them.

I-COLM-KILL, OR I-COLUMB-KILL.

These ruins are in Iona, one of the Hebrides, lying to the west of the island of Mull, from which it is separated by a narrow channel, called the sound of I. It is a small but celebrated island; "once the luminary of the Caledonian regions," as Dr. Johnson expresses it: "whence savage clans and roving barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge, and the blessings of religion."

It is three miles long, and from half a mile to a mile broad. On the east side it is flat; in the middle it rises into small hills; and on the west side it is rugged and rocky; the whole forming a singular mixture of rocks and fertile ground. There is a small mean village, containing about sixty houses, near a small bay called the bay of Martyrs, where the illustrious dead were landed for interment. This island furnishes many valuable minerals, but it is chiefly interesting to the antiquary for the ruins of its ancient religious establishments, which point out in striking contrast, the present state and its condition when it was the retreat of learning, while Western Europe lay buried in ignorance and barbarity. The ruins are much dilapidated; but the generous care of the family of Argyll has raised a strong wall round the chief parts of the building, to secure it as much as possible from mischievous visiters, and to prevent cattle getting through the ruins. The cathedral is 38 yards in length, and eight in breadth; and the length of the transept 24 yards. The east window is a beautiful specimen

of Gothic workmanship; the pillars are all in different styles of architecture, but their capitals are ornamented with scripture-pieces, of the most grotesque figures. In the middle of the cathedral rises a tower three stories high, supported by four arches, and ornamented with bas-reliefs. At the upper end of the chancel stood a large table or altar of pure white marble; of which, however, there are now no remains. Near where this altar stood, on the north side, is a tombstone of black marble, on which is a fine recumbent figure of the Abbot Macfingone, as large as life; with this inscription: XHICX JACETX JOHANNES MACFINGONE × ABBAS DE II x qui obid. anno MD. cujus animo propicietur altissimus. Amen.

Nearly opposite to this tomb, is the tombstone of Abbot Kenneth, executed in the same manner: on the floor is the figure of an armed knight, with an animal sprawling at his feet. On the right of the Cathedral, but contiguous to it, are the remains of the College, some of the cloisters still visible, and the common hall entire, with stone seats for the disputants. A little to the north of the Cathedral, are the remains of the bishop's house, and on the south is a small chapel, pretty entire, dedicated to St. Oran. In this are many tombstones of marble, particularly of the great Lords of the Isles. South of the chapel is an enclosure, called Reilia Ouran," the buryingplace of Oran," containing a great number of tombs, but so overgrown with weeds, as to render few of the inscriptions legible. In this enclosure lie the remains of forty-eight Scottish